Group prays for new approach to health care reform

Christ the King Church in Nashville hosted a prayer service for health care on Wednesday, July 12. About 50 people gathered to pray that Congress would reject the current bills to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which would include large cuts to the Medicaid program. Joceline Lemaire, director of adult formation at Christ the King, right, shows Jeanne Marchetti her part in the prayer service, which included stories of patients who depend on Medicaid for needed health care. Photo by Andy Telli

After sending letters and emails and making regular phone calls to Tennessee’s two U.S. senators urging them to reject the Better Care Reconciliation Act, which would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a system that includes large cuts to Medicaid, opponents of the bill have turned to prayer.

“I think God can do miracles,” said Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center and a parishioner at Christ the King Church in Nashville. “We need one.”

She and others organized a prayer service for health care at Christ the King on Wednesday, July 12. It followed an earlier educational session about the health care bills being considered in Congress and their impact on the working poor, the sick and the elderly.

The educational session was designed to help people understand the basics of the issue, said Johnson, whose organization advocates for people who need help accessing the health care system. “When they understand (what is in the bill) they go, ‘you’re kidding,’” Johnson said.

“Most Americans don’t understand the system,” said Johnson, who noted that two-thirds of patients in nursing homes are on Medicaid. Because Republican leaders in the Senate decided to bypass the normal committee process in drafting the bill, there were fewer opportunities for the public to express themselves, she said. “People don’t know how to engage.”

At that earlier session, attendees were encouraged to contact Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker to urge them to reject the Republican proposals.

“We have been calling the senators’ offices every day … and writing letters and emails,” said Jeanne Marchetti. “I’ll continue to do it.”

Marchetti has an adult daughter who has cystic fibrosis. Many of her daughter’s friends who have cystic fibrosis depend on Medicaid to provide the medications they need to extend their life, she said. The proposed cuts to Medicaid – $772 million over 10 years – would threaten their access to those needed medications.

Congress should kill the bill and start over, said Christ the King parishioner Mike Fontaine, who attended the prayer service. “I want them to open their hearts and do God’s work,” said Fontaine, who usually stays out of politics. “I think we need to do more for the people. That’s what God wants us to do. We’re here to serve.”

“I want a health care act that works for everyone, prioritizing the needs of the poor, the sick and the elderly,” said Megan Black, a Christ the King parishioner who helped organize the educational session and letter writing campaign.

When people ask what they can do beyond contacting their senators, Johnson replies, “All we can do is pray.” She pointed to a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.”

The prayer service at Christ the King, which included meditations on the dignity of the human person, rights and responsibilities, preferential option for the poor and solidarity, four of the principles of Catholic social teaching, was part of a broader effort. Other denominations were holding similar prayer services on the same day, Johnson said.

“We profess the value of each human being and profess the truth that fundamental health care is not a privilege but a human right,” Christ the King parishioner Jim Bryan said during the prayer service.

The Tennessee Justice Center is trying to organize a bus trip to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 18, so people can express their opinions on the bill to Sens. Alexander and Corker. The two senators host Tennessee Tuesdays each week in Washington to give constituents a chance to meet with their staffs. Anyone who wants more information on the trip can contact Johnson at 615-255-0331 or mjohnson@tnjustice.org.

Johnson remains confident the country can reform its health care system without putting the poor, the sick and the elderly at risk. “We’ve solved bigger problems than this in America,” she said. “We can do it.”